Hands On – Bellator: MMA Onslaught

While I’m not one to spend my Saturday nights in front of the television to catch an MMA fighting match on Pay-Per-View, I was intrigued by the concept that 345 Games was creating with Bellator: MMA Onslaught. 345’s approach with MMA Onslaught was to create an arcade-style fighting game that concentrates on the action more than the intricacies of your typical MMA fighting game. So during E3, we sat down with 345 Games’ Executive Producer, Matt McEnerney, for a few rounds of MMA action, Bellator style!

The first thing that I noticed is that the game feels more like an arcade fighter than the ever popular UFC Disputed series. At the top of the screen are the obligatory life and stamina bars, which are depleted by taking hits or fighting too hard. Gameplay is quicker in Onslaught than in Disputed, keeping you quick on your feet. The controls are significantly simpler than its UFC counterpart, which makes the game more accessible to fighter enthusiasts of a more casual nature or button-mashers like yours truly; however, those used to the more complex controls in UFC might be put off by a more simplified setup.

Graphically, the game is looking good. For an XBLA/PSN title, MMA Onslaught features some excellent character models, a decent depth of field in the crowd and looks good all around. With the space constraints that Xbox Live puts on developers for an XBLA title, I’ve heard many times over how difficult it can be to really get a good representation of the developer’s original vision into the game graphically; however, for what 345 is aiming for, they seem to have done very well with the not-quite-finished product.

Overall, our time with Bellator: MMA Onslaught was all too short, but we had to get to the next meeting, and 345 Games had to get back to polishing the game. I expect good things from this title, and look forward to seeing more in the coming months. The game is scheduled to be released later this year on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Stay tuned for our full review right around the launch!